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OMRF research may provide new clues to battling bad cholesterol

Scientists at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation are studying how the immune system plays a role in the buildup of bad cholesterol and fat in arteries.

BY GREG ELWELL •
Published: January 22, 2013

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Why do cholesterol and fat build up inside arteries instead of flowing out of the body as waste? Scientists at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation are studying how the immune system plays a role in that buildup and whether there's a way to alter the process.

A new paper from OMRF researcher Dr. Mike Kinter says that macrophages (a part of the immune system) swallow up bad cholesterol and become ?foam cells,? which start a vicious cycle of cholesterol accumulation inside arteries. Photo by Steve Sisney. STEVE SISNEY

Macrophages are cells in the immune system that usually act as “good guys,” OMRF researcher Mike Kinter said. They absorb viruses and bacteria and bits of broken cells to move them safely out of the bloodstream. But when they take in low-density lipoprotein (LDL, often known as “bad cholesterol”), the macrophages become part of the problem.

“Rather than taking LDL out of the body, macrophages eat it up and turn themselves into foam cells,” he said. “Foam cells then attach to the insides of blood vessels and begin piling up. Unfortunately, that pileup creates a plaque that causes the arteries to become blocked and changes how they work.”

The disease is called atherosclerosis, and it's a common condition of aging, he said. The real problem lies less in the buildup of plaques — though that can be an issue — and more in what happens when chunks of the plaque break off, forming the blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes.

In a new paper in the journal PLoS One, Kinter found that macrophages are “too good” at their jobs and that by surviving their encounter with LDL, these “good guys” become an active part of the disease.